Every day, dozens of letters roll into our office via snail mail, fax and our online form. These are the observations of readers far and wide who’ve taken time to respond to what’s published in The Bee.<\/p>\n
Our mail bag is always full of surprises. Over the holidays, I wrote a notebook about the slow disappearance of hand-written notes and homemade Christmas cards. Readers responded. Several sent me handmade cards that are among the most beautiful I’ve ever received. <\/p>\n
Of course, much of our correspondence is not so gentle. As I’ve noted, people have strong opinions about opinions, and some take the time to express them in letters. In an age when people can easily fire off anonymous online comments, letter writers put their John Hancock behind what they write. That’s why we take them seriously. <\/p>\n
That said, I realize The Bee’s process for selecting and publishing letters can seem mysterious and even imperious.<\/p>\n
So here are answers to some of your questions. <\/p>\n
How do you decide which letters to publish?<\/b> We look for letters that are topical, well-focused and original. If we get 20 letters that all make the same point about the same subject, we may publish only one of them. <\/p>\n
Sometimes the letters are really lame. Why?<\/b> We can publish only what we receive. At certain times of the year, such as the holidays, the quality and volume of the letters dip. Yet at other times, we have way more gems than we have space to publish. <\/p>\n
Who makes the decisions on letters?<\/b> I do, although Forum Editor Gary Reed handles the day-to-day processing. Gary is now training the rest of the editorial board staff on editing and publishing letters. Soon, everyone on staff will take a turn in handling letters. <\/p>\n
What’s the fastest way to get a letter published? <\/b>Use our online form, www.sacbee.com\/sendletter or e-mail it to letters@sacbee.com. Although we accept letters via snail mail and fax, those have to be typed into the system. Letters that are illegible, or exceed the 200-word limit, won’t get published. <\/p>\n
I’ve had trouble submitting a letter through your online form. Does it really work?<\/b> Yes. Sometimes, like all businesses, we have computer glitches. It’s also possible that your submission failed to process because you exceeded the 200-word limit.<\/p>\n
Some days, the letters you publish are nearly all from the liberal perspective. Are you purposely excluding conservatives?<\/b> No. Like I said, we can publish only what we receive. <\/p>\n
Following the election of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race, we published numerous letters critical of the new Republican senator, with few in support. Conservatives complained. But when I went back and checked the letters we received that day and the next, the ones we published were representative of what was submitted. <\/p>\n
This has been a long-standing complaint. The best way to fix it is for conservatives to write more letters. <\/p>\n
What kind of things will prevent my letter from being published?<\/b> If you load up your letter with assertions or facts that can’t be easily verified, it won’t be published. We also are not fond of vicious name calling or letters in which ENTIRE PHRASES ARE IN CAPS!!!<\/p>\n
You seem to get more letters than you publish in print.<\/b> Why not publish the extra ones online? <\/b>Great idea. We are working on that. Stay tuned. <\/p>\n
There will be another new name on our editorial board masthead Monday. Foon Rhee, formerly the deputy national editor at the Boston Globe, joins the editorial board as an associate editor.<\/p>\n
I expect that Foon, like another recent recruit, Dan Morain, will have an immediate impact on our pages. His speciality will be local affairs. But he will also inform what we write and publish on national politics, business and technology.<\/p>\n
Foon and I share a few things in common. Both of us honed our early journalism skills in North Carolina, and both of us have experience as Habitat for Humanity volunteers. Foon even rose to be a house leader of his Habitat chapter near Charlotte, N.C. He recalls it as an “immensely rewarding” experience.<\/p>\n
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Foon has family in the Bay Area. He is also a graduate of Duke University, which should make for some lively editorial board meetings. The board includes a few fervent Tar Heel fans, one in particular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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